瑛 Yīng

The Crown Prince Ying was first Prince of Zhending and was raised to Prince of Ying. In the third year of Kaiyuan he was made Crown Prince. In the seventh year an edict ordered the Crown Prince and the princes to enter the National University and perform the rite of taking their places by age among the students; the Court of Imperial Sacrifices chose a day to pay homage to Confucius, and the Crown Prince made the offering. Chu Wuliang, Right Cavalier Attendant-in-ordinary, was ordered by edict to hold the classic and expound it, and the officials, the teachers of the school and the students were given silk according to their rank. The next year Ying was capped and presented at the Imperial Ancestral Temple. In the sixteenth year an edict ordered that the daughters of officials of the nine ranks who might be matched with the Crown Prince be selected and inspected by the officials concerned and await the emperor's decision, and the daughter of Xue Tao, Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, was made his consort. The emperor sowed wheat in the palace park, and Ying and the princes attended him as it was harvested. The emperor said, "This is to be offered in the ancestral temple, so I tend it myself; I also want you to know how hard it is to sow and reap." He then shared it out among the attending ministers and said, "The Spring and Autumn Annals records 'no wheat or grain', which the ancients took most seriously. Lately I sent envoys by edict to inspect the fields, and their answers were not true to the facts; so I planted this myself to watch it ripen." Earlier, Ying's mother had come into the palace as an entertainer; she was a fine singer and dancer, and won the emperor's favour when he was at Lu Prefecture. When he came to the throne, he raised her father Yuanli and her elder brother Changnu to high office. The mothers of the two Princes of E and Guang had also been chosen for their beauty when the emperor was Prince of Linzi. Then the Consort Wu Hui won such favour that she overshadowed the whole rear palace, and bore the Prince of Shou, whom the emperor loved far above his other sons. The Crown Prince and the two princes, because their mothers had lost their places, were quite resentful. Yang Xu, the husband of the Consort Hui's daughter the Princess Xianyi, guessed at the consort's wishes, watched for the Crown Prince's faults and spread ugly stories about him. The Consort Hui complained to the emperor, weeping, and the emperor was furious and called in his chief ministers to discuss deposing Ying. Zhang Jiuling, Director of the Secretariat, remonstrated, saying, "The Crown Prince and the princes receive Your Majesty's instruction daily, and the whole empire rejoices in it. Your Majesty has held the throne a long time and your sons and grandsons are many; why cast off three sons in a single day? Of old, Duke Xian of Jin was misled by the slanders of a favourite concubine, Shensheng died of grief, and the state fell into great disorder. Emperor Wu of Han believed Jiang Chong's charges of witchcraft, the disaster reached the Crown Prince, and blood flowed in the capital. Emperor Hui of Jin had a worthy son, Empress Jia slandered him, and the state came to ruin. Emperor Wen of Sui listened to his empress and deposed his Crown Prince Yong, and so lost the empire. Now the Crown Prince has done no wrong and the two princes are worthy. The bond of father and son is of Heaven's making; even if there were a fault, it should still be covered over. I ask only that Your Majesty decide in mercy." The emperor was silent, and the Crown Prince escaped being deposed. Soon afterwards Jiuling was dismissed and Li Linfu took control of the state; he often praised the merits of the Prince of Shou to win the consort's favour, and the consort was indeed grateful to him. In the twenty-fifth year Yang Xu again made out that Ying, Yao and Ju were plotting treason with Xue Xiu, the elder brother of Ying's consort. The Consort Hui sent someone to summon the Crown Prince and the two princes on a pretext, saying, "There are bandits in the palace; please come in armour." The Crown Prince did as he was told. The consort told the emperor, "The Crown Prince and the two princes are rebelling; they have come in armour." The emperor sent a eunuch to see, and it was as she said. He at once called in the chief minister Linfu to discuss it, and Linfu answered, "This is Your Majesty's family affair; it is not something I should have a part in." The emperor's mind was made up, and he issued an edict: "The Crown Prince Ying, Yao, Prince of E, and Ju, Prince of Guang, have joined in evil and share the same guilt; all are deposed and made commoners. Xiu is ordered to take his own life." Ying, Yao and Ju were soon murdered. The whole empire thought them wronged and called them "the Three Commoners." Within the year, the Consort Hui several times saw the commoners haunting her, and fell gravely ill as a result. She called in shamans by night to pray, asked for them to be reburied, and had the executioners shot and buried, but to the end there was no relief. When the consort died, the haunting ceased. In the first year of Baoying an edict restored Ying posthumously to the title of Crown Prince, and Yao and the others were restored to their princedoms. Ying had five sons: Yan, Shen, Qian, Qiu and Bei. When Ying was deposed, the emperor had the Prince of Qing bring up Yan and the others as his own sons. Yan was enfeoffed as Prince of Xinping Commandery, Shen as Prince of Pingyuan Commandery, Qiu succeeded as Prince of Qing, and Bei became Chief Minister of the Court of the Imperial Stud; what became of Qian is not recorded. Edit